Sparring Times with
Dakota ‘Nose-Picker’ Brookes & Damien ‘Drooler’ Baker
Dakota ‘Nose-Picker’ Brookes & Damien ‘Drooler’ Baker
Interacting with: each other
Dakota hadn’t been completely satisfied with the response they had been given, but there wasn’t much else that could be done about it as the bell rang to signal the end of the class. If what the professor had said was true, in the case a focus was not immediately notable one could potentially be conditioned to serve the purpose… but did that also mean something could be constructed specifically for such a thing? And if so, were there any special requirements to do so other than just hold it ‘for a week or so’.
The youth mage started getting frustrated at the thought, wondering what sort of item would not only be effective but convenient as well. There had to be something that would match Dakota’s personality, not to mention magic type, but that was difficult to determine without any idea of what to expect from the elusive affinity. Heaving a sigh, Dakota shot Cassandra a toothy grin and a wave of the hand.
“Let’s chat sometime! I’m off to Self-Defense, I’ve been pumped for this class all night.” With an excited pep in their step, Dakota took off at a brisk pace toward the arena where the class was to be held. The anticipation helped ease the flow of thoughts that plagued the student about their affinity, considering one of the options the professor had mentioned… A diviner, whatever that was, sounded like someone who could potentially help solve the riddle they were currently facing. But there was something about it, or the name at the very least, that Tinley didn’t like. Dakota had wondered about it, but it just didn’t feel like the way to go. Not yet at least.
Jogging into the arena, Dakota filed away their belongings into the designated area and settled in to await instruction from the man in charge. He was a gruff dude and far from afraid to show off, a trait that must have proven itself necessary considering they types of beings he had to teach. Standing among vampires and mages, the scales of power were definitely imbalanced, but Dracion seemed the type to keep everything in his space well in check.
Dakota might not have been some skilled warrior with fancy techniques or weapons training, but the youth had seen their fair share of back alley fights. The type where at least one participant was leaving in an ambulance, if they were lucky. Never once had the youth been responsible for a death, but they knew better than most what sort of damage could be done if serious about it. Today, it sounded like, would be more of an exercise in restraint than anything else.
Remember, it’s just a scrimmage. And who knows, you might end up paired with someone with more experience than you. No need to worry. Private pep talk received, Dakota pranced over to the gear and suited up, deftly working the bindings to keep everything where it needed to be on the toned frame. The mage could feel a buzz of energy building up within the gut, excited nerves of stepping into a subject not hellishly outside of their experience. After all that had gone on during the night, it would be nice to kick back and let off some steam.
Damien grumbled as he tried to find all the appropriate straps and buckles on the gear. Between grumbling about the hard ass up front and having to deal with someone likely more suited to fighting than himself, Damien didn’t notice the other person at his assigned position for a moment. Truth be told, fighting wasn’t something he was fond of. Sure, play wrestling with his friends and siblings was one thing but Damien hadn’t ever thrown a serious punch in his life. He’d never needed to! Until now apparently. Damien sighed and glanced around, startling a bit when he realized someone else was there.
“Oh shit!” Damien swore as he jerked back instinctively. “Sorry, sorry. Name’s Damien! This is kinda my first time doing this so uh, go easy on me?” Damien hoped that his luck wouldn’t fail him now; that somehow, his partner in this awful class would be just as inexperienced and he could avoid the learning how to punch thing.
As Damien jumped so did Dakota, eyes widening in surprise at having startled someone else despite not having really done anything. The moment of panic was short lived, however, the small burst of adrenaline fading as quickly as it had arrived as Dakota broke out into the signature grin.
“Hey, no worries. The name’s Dakota, friends call me Kota though.” Friendly eyes sparkled as the mage laughed the last of the nerves off, extending a hand out in welcome. Despite the warm front Dakota had put forth, there was no helping the creeping feeling of nerves working back up in their gut. As usual, it seemed the world had different plans to what the youth had asked for.
“I’ll do my best but I can’t make any promises. Besides, I doubt Sergeant Tombstone over here will allow for any grievous injuries anyhow.” Dakota joked, pointing a thumb in the direction of the arena director with a mischievous glance. In all honesty, the new mage was probably overthinking things. The conditions in the arena were far different than anything they had ever experienced before, so the likelihood of reverting to old habits was low at present.
“Sergeant Tombstone.” Damien chuckled as he shook Kota’s hand. “Fucking great. But you’re probably right. He’ll just stick us in the ground for a while apparently.” Damien’s nerves settled a little as Kota joked around. He beamed at the other mage. Finally someone who didn't leave the stick in their ass constantly.
That wasn't fair. Lucan was just looking out for him but it chafed. Damien was a damn adult and this vampire who snatched him from his home was making walk on eggshells everywhere. Was this mage life? Constantly worrying about the next time they pissed off a vampire and hoping they can keep their head low enough that even if they do, nothing comes of it? Damien shook his head.
No need to think about that now.
"So, how do we go about this? We just go for it?" Damien asked as he looked around at some of the other groups. He shrugged and put up his fists. "Got any tips for a loser like me?
“Be fast, don’t get hit? Hehe that’s sort of a given though.” The youth mirrored a similar stance, arms up with fingers curled in the familiar form of a fist. For the time being, they were only about level with the chin allowing full visibility of the surrounding field.
Eyes swept the groups to see what each were working on, the instructions being rather vague as to what exactly they were supposed to be doing. It seemed each group had its own ideas of what to do, a small chuckle at seeing Joryldin staring at one of his partners. His group seemed to be getting down and dirty with some failed attempt at grappling, but it looked like the mage’s partner was in rather high spirits for the time being. A comforting thought. Returning back to the pair at hand, Dakota had a thought about how they should proceed.
“For me there is no think, just do. How about you come at me and I’ll defend for a bit while you get comfy throwing a punch? You don’t have to worry, I can take a hit.” The youth added, shifting the position of their arms upward to signal their readiness for the exercise.
Damien mirrored Dakota’s stance as best he could, the nerves in his stomach bubbling up again. His parents had clear cut views on fighting and while it wasn’t outright forbade, it had been strongly discouraged. Getting into this situation just screamed wrong and Damien had to take a deep breath to get himself to focus again. It didn’t really matter what his family thought here, did it?
He shuffled forward, tensing in expectation of a retaliatory strike, and jabbed at the other mage, following with a jarring transition into a punch towards the stomach. Frankly, his body felt oddly unresponsive to the actions but he just went with what he’d seen before.
Dakota could just about feel the apprehension as Damien made his approach, the quick jab dodged easily with a side step but the gut punch a light hop backward. It was a simple ‘one-two’ probably something picked up from someone else, but it was good. Varied. Flashing a quick smile Dakota nodded in encouragement.
“Not bad! You have to be sure though. If you don’t mean it, it’ll come back and bite you in the ass.”
If there was ever a time for a “do this, do that” vampire, now would have been a great time. They were perfectly fine breathing down your neck when you were just doing your thing but now that he needed someone giving instructions, poof. What a backwards fucking place.
“I am sure.” Damien grumbled as he got back into position. “Sure I don’t wanna hit you.” But Damien approached Dakota again, this time a little less hesitant as he focused on landing a hit. He made the same combination, a quick jab into a stomach punch but this time he moved quicker, trying to take the uncertainty out of the first hit, and he stepped forward through the second. He remembered the little backwards movement and tried to keep pace with them.
Sensing a shift in determination, Dakota readied themselves for the next move. It seemed that advice had been heeded, the first jab more direct and body tensed for a reinforced follow up. For an unfamiliar subject, Damien was a pretty quick study. The mage couldn't contain their excitement as the grin on their face grew just the slightest bit wider.
Standing ground, Dakota shifted their torso away from the initial jab putting themselves directly in the path of Damien's follow up. Dropping the defensive arms, the mage used both hands to catch the fist aimed at the gut with a forced step back to absorb the blow. The sound of knuckle slamming against palm was far worse than it actually felt, the stinging sensation very brief for the youth. Normally such a block would be less than ideal, and probably not Dakota's go-to but the situation was anything but dire.
“Now that's what I'm talkin’ about.” Dakota chuckled as they shook the pins and needles from their palms.
"People do this for fun?" Damien gripped as he shook his hand. It wasn't as bad as taking a tumble on the concrete but it sure as hell didn't feel pleasant. "What is the point of this anyways? We literally give our blood to things way stronger than us. Why can't we just chill behind them? Isn't that why we have magic and stuff?" Damien stayed in position as he talked, still not really understanding what was happening. Fighting seemed pointless when you cool get snapped in two by a pissy vampire.
“Fun, exercise… survival. Stress relief for me personally. But I think you have some of this backwards.” The youth responded with a shrug.
“You ever notice how many of the security details around here are mages? Besides, I'd rather rely on my own strength than that over there.” A tilt of the head motioned to the group containing Dakota's wispy looking partner.
Eyes shifting back to Damien, Dakota noticed he hadn't moved from his stance quite yet. Expression turned mischievous, the mage shifted their weight forward and extended the same arm in a quick jab toward the other's nose. There was a small amount of curiosity about whether Damien would have the reflexes to deal with the sudden strike or if the punch would have to be pulled short to avoid crunching cartilage.
"It doesn't-Wait, you said your friends call you Kota? Does that mean I'm-" Damien recoiled with a screech a second too slow as Dakota threw a quick jab. He closed his eyes expecting the hit and opened them slowly when he didn't get one, going cross eyed at the fist in front of him. "What the hell? What kind of dick takes a cheap shot like that?!
Dakota dissolved into laughter as Damien finally realized what was happening. Between the shriek, the cross eyed expression, or the immediately grumpy response, the young mage couldn't decide what amused them more.
“Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help myself with you just standing there like that. But boy do I wish I had a recording of that, you're great!” Swiping away an escaping tear, Dakota cleared their throat.
“No, really. I am sorry. You were saying something?”
"Oh now we're talking?" Damien's irritation melted out of him at the infectious laughter, as he dropped a little lower and smirked playfully just as he threw himself at his partner's legs. It was a move forged in the harden pits of the living room floor, where all mayhem broke loose on rainy days as the more rowdy siblings tussled with pent up energy. He patched onto Dakota's legs, trying to drag the mage down on top of him so he could flip and pin them.
“And you called my shot cheap.” Dakota retorted as arms and legs entangled, the pair of mages sent tumbling to the ground. The scene was a familiar one, no doubt Damien being one of at least one other sibling as Dakota was. Fist fights might have been one thing unfamiliar to some but elder sibling dominance was something that could put them both on the same playing field. Dakota fought against Damien's grip as they tried to find a way around, fully prepared to deliver their infamous knuckle sandwich; a delicacy reserved for only the rowdiest of trouble makers.
Damien would admit he found this far more fun than throwing punches. He cackled as they pair fell and immediately started rolling and twisting into all of Dakota's joints as he tried to cut off her range of movement.
"All's fair in love and war! Damien shot back, grunting with the effort of holding onto the stronger mage. Damien knew he wouldn't be able to overpower Dakota, lean was a generous description after all, but he did know how to throw himself around enough to be annoying. He slipped his leg in between Dakota's and tried rolling onto of him, trying to bring the knee with him and force him to submit.
”Your pin says fair, my fingers say war.” Dakota could feel the decreasing range of movement, but as Damien tried to roll the pair the leg became the focus. A smart move… but ultimately futile. Managing to wriggle an arm free, the mage shamelessly hooked the tips of two fingers on either of Damien's nostrils in an attempt to momentarily gain control of his head.
Damien let out another screech as Dakota shoved his fingers in his nose and he reflexively spit on the other mage, releasing his hold on him and slamming his head forward with the hook of the fingers to hit the closest part of Dakota he could. He never learned, always going for the legs when the hands always got him in the trouble he couldn't handle.
“Aaaaw, dude. That's so groooooss.” Dakota smirked, failing to hold back laughter. Between the drool and the fingers now knuckle deep up someone's nose, there was no winning for either party anywhere in sight. Feeling Damien's grip relax some, Dakota was quick to wriggle free the other arm to catch the descending forehead before it did any real harm.
“Alright, alright. I giiive. You're gonna hurt yourself if you keep that up.” The youth heaved, sides now thoroughly aching from the amused snickering.
Damien blinked for a few moments and giggled alongside Dakota as he caught his breath, moving aside to give the other mage some breathing room. He sprawled out on the grounds, his giggles turning into outright laughter and his cheeks ached from smiling.
"I win! Damien declared triumphantly, eyes sparkling as he beamed. "If that's what this class is going to be, I'mma love it! Even if you are a dirty fighter. Nostril hooks, ew."